Embracing renewable energies can achieve the sustainable and inclusive economic
development that the world increasingly seeks. There has been much recent discussion
about the possibilities of a transition to a “Green Economy” that could foster economic
growth and job creation while protecting the environment and achieving social inclusion.
The Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development in June will promote renewable
energies, and there are already encouraging signs that many governments around the
globe are taking steps towards building strategies that could help them promote growth
while shifting to a less carbon-intensive and more equitable path.

By developing renewable energies we can place the world on a path to sustainable
clean energy, cut emissions of greenhouse gases and benefit the environment. In the
developing world, renewable energies not only help lift isolated rural communities out of
poverty, creating opportunities and jobs, but can have a fundamental role in addressing
energy security and climate change. Many economists say a move to renewable energies
could be the turning point that is needed to drag western economies from the brink of a
long-term recession. Renewable energies are a source of diversified economic growth
and job creation: more than 3.5 million people are already employed in renewable
energy industries.

According to the IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2011, as many as 1.3 billion people in
developing countries, 84 per cent of them in rural areas, lack access to electricity and the
opportunities it provides. This is a major issue, particularly in Africa. Renewable energies’ modular nature — and their frequent
ability to operate without centralised
infrastructure — can make them
particularly effective in reaching the
poorest first. Energy is much more
than access to a service to the rural
poor: it means the opportunity to
release their potential, improve their
economic conditions and enjoy the
benefits of better health services,
education and communications —
essential elements of
sustainable development.

The International Renewable Energy
Agency (IRENA) is truly committed
to energy access, especially to the
isolated rural poor. Last July 2011
it organised the IRENA-Africa High
Level Consultations on Partnerships
on Accelerating Renewable Energy.
It has recently concluded Renewable
Readiness Assessments (RRAs) in
two pilot countries in Africa, and is
now planning to expand this initiative
to other countries on the continent,
and in the world. RRAs are designed
to provide a holistic assessment of
the conditions for renewable energy
deployment in a country
and to identify the necessary
elements for devising an effective policy framework to support their
market development.

Energy security is a major area
of concern for both developed
and developing economies. The
rising prices of fossil fuels — and
expectations that their supply and
demand balance will remain quite
tight in the coming years — clearly
concern governments around the
world. Least Developed Countries
with a high dependency on fossil
fuels have been particularly
affected as rising prices and the
costs of imports hit their fiscal
balances. Adopting renewable
energy can reduce energy costs.
The established understanding that
new energy sources take many
years to become cost-effective
does not apply to renewable energy,
where the relative simplicity of
both established and innovative
technologies puts them well within
the within the investment scope of
developing nations.

Renewable energies provide
countries with the possibility of
achieving a more sustainable
energy mix while preserving the
environment and reducing the
impact of fuel price volatility,
especially on the poor. Yet energy
laws have historically been designed
to privilege conventional fuels.
Subsidies for them around the world, for example, are in the range
of $300 to 500 billion per year,
translating into an unprecedented
level of market distortion. Deploying
renewables has also been limited by
insufficient technical and administrative
knowledge, and limited access to
information on their potential to meet
global energy needs. IRENA has
a fundamental role in levelling this
playing field, providing knowledge
and know-how and facilitating the
flow of information and best practices
so as to realise renewable energies’
huge potential and move us forward
to a greener world. It can also help
countries break down the many
political, economic, institutional
and market barriers that limit the
widespread use of these technologies.

IRENA is developing information
and indicator platforms for this. It
is coordinating, for example — in
partnership with the Clean Energy
Ministerial Multilateral Solar and Wind
Working Group — the development
of the Global Solar and Wind Atlas,
which will provide comprehensive
energy potential data for planning the
transition to renewable energy systems.

These are exciting times for renewable
energies. The latest Renewable
Global Status Report showed that
by early 2011, they represented as
much as one quarter of the world’s
power capacity. Global investment
in 2010 reached $211 billion, up
32 per cent from the previous year
– with substantial technological and
costs improvements, particularly in
solar. Admittedly, a large proportion of
these resources have been invested
in specific areas, particularly the
United States, China and Europe —
but IRENA aims to capitalise on their
experience and foster cooperation at
global, regional and national levels,
sharing knowledge, enabling policies,
enhancing capacity, and encouraging
investment, technological development
and innovation. In the end, renewable
energy is one of the best hopes we
have for achieving a more sustainable
and inclusive future.